Spectroscopic studies of the SO2 discharge system. II. Microwave spectrum of the SO dimer

Abstract

Microwave spectra assignable to a dimer of SO have been detected in an electric discharge of SO₂. A centrifugal distortion analysis has been carried out on the spectra from the ground state and the lowest excited vibrational state of ¹⁶O³²S³²S¹⁶O and the ground vibrational state of ¹⁶O³²S³⁴S¹⁶O. The molecule was found to have a planar cis configuration with the following geometry: r(SO)=1.458(2) Å, r_s(SS)=2.0245(6) Å, and $\angle \mathrm{SSO}{\text{=112.7(5)}}^{\mathrm{o}}$ . The observed dipole moment of OSSO is μ=3.17(10) D.